Hasta La Creative!

Born in 1923, Butterfinger bars were soon falling from the sky, dropped from airplanes atop 40 cities in one of the brand’s first marketing stunts.

But the candy — which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year — might have hit an even higher marketing peak decades later, with its successful “Simpsons” partnership that ran from 1988 — before the show was even a regular series — to 2001. In honor of Butterfinger’s 90th we are highlighting one of the early spots featuring Bart Simpson as the subject of this week’s Rewind.

One can only wonder if the 1989 ad — which Ad Age listed as one of the best spots of the year — would slip by the food police these days, with its reference to the 270-calorie bar as an essential part of a school lunch. Keep in mind that “The Simpsons,” at the time, was a relatively little-known entity, first debuting as a segment on Fox’s ”Tracey Ullman Show,” before the first full-length episode aired in December 1989. Consider this story by The New York Times in late 1988, which notes that “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, then 34, was “surprised that there was commercial interest in his work” but was “pleased with the opportunity to do advertising.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com